Rajesh Divakaran and Lijin Jose's Poll Tourism attracted close to 70 foreigners during the April-May general election and the duo are now targeting next month's Onam harvest festival. Poll Tourism was the first major project of Signal Post, the company that Divakaran and Jose established last year. Foreign tourists were taken on boats on the campaign trail of candidates in the Alappuzha, Thiruvananthapuram and Varkala Lok Sabha constituencies.

The tourist season all set to begin with the commencement of the Onam festival next month, and Divakaran and Jose are now in the process of designing tour packages around the famous snake boat races for foreign and domestic visitors. They say tourists would be able to experience and directly participate in the ethnic boat races from the early preparations to the grand finale. "It will give tourists greater involvement and excitement than being mere viewers as they will be able to literally feel the spirit of the race. This will definitely bring in more business to the backwaters," Divakaran said.

The duo has also launched Ayurveda Tourism aboard a fully equipped houseboat. Also planned are special packages for IT firms.